Syria's Secrets
WMD: Since the start of the Iraq war, many have wondered what happened to Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The answer, a new book argues, is Iraq sent them to Syria.
One book, of course, doesn't prove anything. But in this case, the book was written by someone who seems credible on the subject: former Iraqi Gen. Georges Sada, the No. 2 official in Saddam's air force.
In an interview, Sada told The New York Sun's Ira Stoll: "There are weapons of mass destruction gone out from Iraq to Syria, and they must be found and returned to safe hands." Sada claims Saddam simply flew the WMD out of Iraq in two hollowed-out Boeing jets, making 56 trips in all. He also sent WMD out on trucks.
This revelation follows by one month Israeli Gen. Moshe Yaalon's comments, pretty much ignored by the media, that Israel had intelligence showing that Saddam "transferred the chemical agents (WMD) from Iraq to Syria."
Far-fetched? Not at all. After all, Syria is ruled by the Baath Party, just as Iraq was. Two countries, one party, one extreme ideology based on radical pan-Arab nationalism and hatred of Jews.
In fact, it would be strange if Syria didn't help its fraternal twin in Iraq out by hiding WMD taken out of the country shortly before U.S. troops invaded — as Sada alleges. This would be right in line with what we already know about Syria's past misbehavior.
As the 2004 Patterns of Global Terrorism report pointed out, Syria's regime, headed by Bashar Assad, has a long history of supporting terrorist groups. Damascus at one time or another has lent a helping hand to Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. And it was almost certainly behind last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
More worrisome to us are signs of links between Syria and al-Qaida. Recall that in April 2004 neighboring Jordan nabbed a number of al-Qaida-linked terrorists who were planning chemical weapon attacks on the U.S. Embassy and Jordanian government in Amman. Lebanon later discovered the terrorists had used Syria as a base — both as a source of materials for their chemical weapons and as a haven.
Not surprisingly, that's precisely the same role Syria recently has played for the "insurgents" in Iraq. Why? Saddam was a key ally, supplying Syria with lots of cheap oil. Plus, a successful democracy in Iraq spells big trouble for Syria, whose Baathist regime unabashedly models itself on the Nazis and the Soviets under Stalin.
All this adds up to serious concerns about Syria. As we said, Syria under Assad has a well-documented record of supporting and fostering terrorism and conducting an illicit chemical weapons program. Like its friend, Iran, it's a dangerous regime.
The U.S. and its allies have warned Assad repeatedly to clean up his act. He hasn't. But at least those who ridicule the war on terror by constantly asking, "Where are the WMD?" now have an answer.
Maybe they'll also come to the same conclusion that we reached long ago: that our war on terror won't be over until Assad and his murderous colleagues are removed from power.
One book, of course, doesn't prove anything. But in this case, the book was written by someone who seems credible on the subject: former Iraqi Gen. Georges Sada, the No. 2 official in Saddam's air force.
In an interview, Sada told The New York Sun's Ira Stoll: "There are weapons of mass destruction gone out from Iraq to Syria, and they must be found and returned to safe hands." Sada claims Saddam simply flew the WMD out of Iraq in two hollowed-out Boeing jets, making 56 trips in all. He also sent WMD out on trucks.
This revelation follows by one month Israeli Gen. Moshe Yaalon's comments, pretty much ignored by the media, that Israel had intelligence showing that Saddam "transferred the chemical agents (WMD) from Iraq to Syria."
Far-fetched? Not at all. After all, Syria is ruled by the Baath Party, just as Iraq was. Two countries, one party, one extreme ideology based on radical pan-Arab nationalism and hatred of Jews.
In fact, it would be strange if Syria didn't help its fraternal twin in Iraq out by hiding WMD taken out of the country shortly before U.S. troops invaded — as Sada alleges. This would be right in line with what we already know about Syria's past misbehavior.
As the 2004 Patterns of Global Terrorism report pointed out, Syria's regime, headed by Bashar Assad, has a long history of supporting terrorist groups. Damascus at one time or another has lent a helping hand to Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. And it was almost certainly behind last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
More worrisome to us are signs of links between Syria and al-Qaida. Recall that in April 2004 neighboring Jordan nabbed a number of al-Qaida-linked terrorists who were planning chemical weapon attacks on the U.S. Embassy and Jordanian government in Amman. Lebanon later discovered the terrorists had used Syria as a base — both as a source of materials for their chemical weapons and as a haven.
Not surprisingly, that's precisely the same role Syria recently has played for the "insurgents" in Iraq. Why? Saddam was a key ally, supplying Syria with lots of cheap oil. Plus, a successful democracy in Iraq spells big trouble for Syria, whose Baathist regime unabashedly models itself on the Nazis and the Soviets under Stalin.
All this adds up to serious concerns about Syria. As we said, Syria under Assad has a well-documented record of supporting and fostering terrorism and conducting an illicit chemical weapons program. Like its friend, Iran, it's a dangerous regime.
The U.S. and its allies have warned Assad repeatedly to clean up his act. He hasn't. But at least those who ridicule the war on terror by constantly asking, "Where are the WMD?" now have an answer.
Maybe they'll also come to the same conclusion that we reached long ago: that our war on terror won't be over until Assad and his murderous colleagues are removed from power.
posted by Marko at 1/26/2006 11:07:00 PM
<< Home